Rootman

As already stated HGH is NOT produced in the stomach, ghrelin IS and it is a GH compound, unfortunately I cannot confirm exactly what GH stands for in this context. If like HGH it stands for Growth Hormone I am not sure of the implications. Some info : https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11600590 Perhaps our misinformed blogger got the two mixed up. Oh, and BTW, I'd rather be older and thin and otherwise healthy than "young" and fat and have other terrible issues. like diabetes, high BP and cholesterol through the roof

Funny thing you go from feeling "abnormal" as a fatty to losing weight to suddenly being "abnormal" as a thin person. I just sat in a meeting where they were passing around donuts, I passed explaining that I hadn't eaten one in over 2 years. They laughed at me in derision that I was denying myself something wonderful and how they themselves cannot do without them. I just sat there looking at them, all with pot bellies and two or more chins, some I know have diabetes and other health issues. *I* was the normal one NOT them. It's all the perspective.

EVERYTHING in this old world is fraught with risk, having a serious abdominal surgery to a pretty major organ carries it's own too. Weight this against the risk of being morbidly obese and probably getting MORE obese year in and year out. I feel for these people and really wish they could of avoided the deadly situations they find themselves in, but alas fate conspired against them and they ended up on the raw end of the deal. All I can offer is it WAS worth it to ME. It has changed my life more than ANYTHING else has - EVER. It's up to the individual to asses and weight the risk vs rewards.

I was 375+ as I would NOT step on the scale for a few months pre-op. Lost 175 pounds and doing fine. Only issues was a few bouts of kidney stones. I drink a lot of water and that keeps them at bay.

I had some pretty serious moobs till I lost about 150 pounds or 80% of my excess weight, since then I've been swimming and biking and they have pretty much disappeared.

Mechanically there is just a lot less mass to deal with so not only is there more ROOM but it doesn't take as much effort either. No on th other hand banging pelvic bones is one thing that is NOT more pleasant

2 years out and still cold. so, YES it is common.

Yep, the mechanics sure are a lot better. Gets better as the testosterone increases as body mass drops too - for the guys anyhoo, well and THEIR mates.

As others have already pointed out not all surgeons will insist on one. One benefit is that you will be able to piss like a racehorse for about a day after they remove it

Well, black makes thin look THINNER too. I wear a lot of black too and probably always will. Just looks so dang good.

About the naked man or the weight loss?

Wait at least 2 years then consult a plastic surgeon. Some will do many proceedures at once, it all depends on your tolerance to pain, finances and surgeons suggestions.

How about a naked MAN then? How about the text "I used to weigh 401 pounds - ask me!"

I flew home from surgery all by myself 3 days post-op so YES t can be done. However you may be feeling kinda crappy so I would make alternative plans if possible. Wish you luck friend!

Generally speaking EVERYTHING carries a risk. Having a VSG and going through 3 months without and leaks or complications I would have to say that statistically you should be at perhaps only slightly higher risk of stomach issues like leaking or other troubles. You have afterall drastically altered the form of the stomach from it's natural shape and function, redcing it's capacity so that it can hold less than it orginally could. Should you force feed yourself you CAN do damge to your stomach sleeved or not. This all has to be taken along with the very real benefits of weight reduction and the possible elimmination of some health problems associated with obesety.

What proud granny said. There are lots of them here and I'm sure they'll jump in any minute now.

I was fortunate that mine DID support me - after the fact even, he was glad I was doing something about it. I know it's a bitter pill to swallow and may be a titanic problem but I agree with the others - time to get a new doctor. That is if getting a sleeve is what you really want to do. I have insurance and went self pay because the cost was going to be about the same and I just did not want to wait. By the time I would of been able to get sleeved (provided I could talk the USA surgeon into a sleeve over a bypass) I was already sleeved about 6-12 months already by going self pay and had lost a good portion of my excess weight. EACH method has its own issues and merits and NEITHER is risk free. Sus it out, do your homework and do what's best for YOU.

I think it's been covered pretty well, one thing I might add is that prices are what the market can support, doctors with better facilities and a good record are in higher demand and can command a higher price. Also newer, larger facilities carry more expence, usually have higher paid employees and cost more to maintain.

Sorry to hear of the hairloss, it's natural for anyone who looses a lot of weight through limited diet. It will stop eventually. I love the pics of the dogs. We had two long haired Dachshunds that we had to have put down this last summer. I still miss them terribly.

Congrats! Ain't it great! And to not feel everything flapping all over and your clothes get all messed up too, used to have my shirt pull untucked, pants creepdown and shorts start to twist. Glad that's no more.

I agree with Joseph, we needs pics, before and after prefereably from many angles

It can be a lot of things, the ones you mention, getting nauseated or upset stomach to full on stomach pain. You may also experience diarrhea or constipation from foods that never bothered you before. Or it could be as mild as a real mental turn off for certain foods. Everyone is different and things change as your progress post-op.

My guess is a small adhesion let lose. Stuff gets stuck on each other after an operation, if left for long tissue and organs can grow together - GOOD if that's what it needs to do as in the case of an incision, BAD if it's an internal organ or abdominal wall sticking to something else. Monitor it pain persists or a fever or redness presents then call the doc or go to the emergency room.

Tell a true story of some time when you were scared sh!tless by something spooky or unexplained. When we were kids my bro and I used to stay up late Saturday night watching monster movies on a UHF channel. We laid in the bottom bunk (mine) under the covers in our creepy old house. The normal short movies were drug on by hours with commercials seemingly every 5 minutes. All were proceeded with a hokey segue that flashed a two tone picture of a monster and an announcer saying something like "The wolfman is howling mad..." or "Frankenstein is coming to get you..." followed by a maniacal laugh. We were bleary eyed and hardly able to keep awake when one more of these stupid commercials hit. This time it was a pic of Boris Karloff as the mummy and the announcer said "The mummy is at your door ..." Just then a draft caused our bedroom door to open very slowly and creek very loudly, at least in our minds as loud as any B movie sound effect anyway. We both looked at each other, eyes wide as saucers and dived under the covers crying. We awoke sometime early in the AM with the old TV hissing static - this was the 60's when TV stations actually went off the air. Man were we scared, my bro - yeah it was HIM not me - actually wet the bed he was too scared to get up and pee. MY bed! In our second house the wife and I were laying in bed in the dark one night, softly chatting about something or other when an unbelievable racket filled the house, the noise seemed to come from EVERYWHERE. Boom, BANG, RATTLE! It seemed to go On and ON but maybe lasted all of 30 seconds or so - a dang long time where your scared witless. I literally JUMPED out of bed. Grabbed something, I think it was a back scratcher ( ) and carefully opened th bedroom door. I checked the basement and the first and second floor - all was in order. I reluctantly went back to bed and didn't get to sleep for hours. YEARS later we had to get into the second floor attic and found an old plastic 5 gallon bucket - that had been placed by a previous owner to catch a small leak - had been over turned. And some gray fur was caught in the wire handle, I could see that an upper vent near the chimney vent was broken which had allowed squirrels to get into the attic, evidently one had jumped down and collided with the bucket, overturned it and it mus of kept scrambling trying to get back outside again - hence all the racket. Being near the old brick chimney which had a clear space around it that went clear to the basement (called a chase I believe for fire prevention, no wood actually touched the chimney) had caused it to echo all throughout the house. Mystery solved. So these are two are kind of lame, what are yours?

Both glad to hear that it was not cancer and sad to hear that it is an autoimmune issue. We all wish you the best on your continued treatment.